K-State, Weber agree to 2-year contract extension

Kansas State head coach Bruce Weber yells to his players during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Texas Tech, Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016, in Manhattan. Kansas State won 83-70. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Director of Athletics Gene Taylor announced today that head coach Bruce Weber has agreed to a two-year contract extension through the 2020-21 season to continue his leadership of the Kansas State men’s basketball program.

According to a press release from K-State, compensation terms for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons will remain per an extension Weber signed in April 2013. The sixth-year head coach will be paid $2.15 million for the 2017-18 season, $2.25 million in 2018-19, $2.35 million in 2019-20 and $2.45 million in 2020-21. The remaining provisions of Weber’s original contract are unchanged for the next two years, while the final two years of the agreement include a reduced buyout provision.

The extension was unanimously approved by the K-State Athletics, Inc., Board of Directors.

“I have had the opportunity to observe our men’s basketball program and visit with Bruce on multiple occasions since I became athletics director,” said Taylor. “I couldn’t be more pleased with the type of person we have leading our program – Coach Weber is well-regarded throughout college basketball as an outstanding coach and a man who conducts his program with integrity and class. I have been able to interact with his team this offseason, and I see the respect our current and former players who have regularly returned to Manhattan have for him. Off the court, Bruce and his wife, Megan, are very involved in the community and his players excel in the classroom with a near perfect graduation rate.

“My goal is to provide the support and resources for all our teams to find success and have the opportunity to win championships,” Taylor added. “We have won a Big 12 Championship under his leadership and are confident about the state of the program and the potential of this year’s team. It is our hope we can continue to build upon the success of last season’s NCAA Tournament berth and First Round victory.”

Hired on March 31, 2012 as the 24th head coach in school history, Weber has guided K-State to a 100-68 (.595) overall record and three NCAA Tournament appearances in five seasons, including a record-setting inaugural campaign in 2012-13 in which he helped the school to its first conference championship in 36 seasons. He became the fifth coach in school history to achieve 100 career victories in the Wildcats’ 95-88 win over Wake Forest in the NCAA First Four on March 14. Weber is the fifth coach to lead K-State to at least three NCAA Tournaments (2013, 2014, 2017), while he joined three others as the only coaches to accomplish it three times in a 5-year period.

“I’m appreciative of the support that President (Richard) Myers and Gene (Taylor) have given me and our coaching staff with this extension,” said Weber. “Longevity is at the core of building a successful program and this commitment from the administration ensures that we have everything necessary to build on what we have already accomplished these last five seasons. We have had a great summer in the gym and I’m excited about current players and where they are taking us a program in the coming years.”

Weber’s latest campaign helped navigate K-State to the NCAA Tournament for the 29th time in school history, as the Wildcats tallied a 21-14 record to go with an 8-10 mark in the ultra-competitive Big 12, which included seven NCAA Tournament teams and NIT champion TCU in 2016-17. He led the Wildcats to win over the Demon Deacons in the First Four in Dayton before falling to a 30-win and nationally-ranked Cincinnati squad in the NCAA South Regional. Among the 21 victories were eight over teams that advanced to the postseason, including NCAA Tournament participants Baylor (twice), Oklahoma State and West Virginia.

Senior Wesley Iwundu repeated his selection to the Coaches’ All-Big 12 Third Team, while fellow senior D.J. Johnson, who set school records for both single season (62.3) and career field goal percentage (59.5), nabbed honorable mention accolades. Iwundu became the first player in school history to tally at least 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 300 assists and 100 steals in a career, while sophomore Barry Brown smashed the school’s single-season mark for steals with 82, which included a Big 12-best 45 in league-only games.

Iwundu capped off his impressive senior campaign by becoming the 50th Wildcat selected in the NBA Draft and the first since 2008 when he was taken with the 33rd overall pick in the second round by the Orlando Magic. He was the fourth college senior selected in the 2017 NBA Draft and one of just 10 taken in its two rounds.

Weber led the Wildcats to 47 wins and a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances in his first two seasons highlighted by his record-setting inaugural campaign which saw the Wildcats tally a 27-8 overall record and a 14-4 mark in league play en route to its first-ever Big 12 regular-season championship. The 27 wins were the second-most in school history, while the 14 in league play tied the school record held by the 1958-59 team. The league championship was the 18th in school history and the first since the 1976-77 season.

For his efforts, Weber was named the 2013 Big 12 Coach of the Year by both the league coaches and The Associated Press and District Coach of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA).

Weber’s second season included his 10th NCAA Tournament appearance and 12th 20-win campaign, as K-State compiled a 20-13 record to go with a 10-8 mark in Big 12 play in 2013-14. The season was highlighted by a 10-game winning streak from Nov. 24, 2013 to Jan. 7, 2014 and a 15-game home court winning streak.

After a trying 2014-15 season that saw K-State drop 10 games by 10 points or less, Weber helped a youthful Wildcat squad rebound to a 17-win campaign in 2015-16 which included the school’s fifth victory over a No. 1 team – No. 1 Oklahoma on February 6, 2016. A core of that 17-win season were three freshmen – Barry Brown, Kamau Stokes and Dean Wade – who went on to start all 35 games for this past season’s NCAA Tournament team.

In his tenure, Weber has helped coach nine players to All-Big 12 honors 12 times to go with three Big 12 All-Newcomer Team selections and a pair of All-Defensive Team members.

The Wildcats have also excelled off the basketball court under Weber’s leadership, as all 17 student-athletes to finish their eligibility have earned their degrees since he became head coach in 2012. He has coached 12 Academic All-Big 12 recipients, including a school-record five in 2016-17, while student-athletes have made a combined 56 appearances on the Big 12 Commissioner’s Academic Honor Roll in the last eight semesters.

The 2016-17 academic year was a particularly impressive one off the court for the Wildcats, as a school-record five players (Austin Budke, Wesley Iwundu, D.J. Johnson, Mason Schoen, Zach Winter) were named to the Academic All-Big 12 team, including a program-best four First Team selections (Budke, Iwundu, Schoen and Winter). Ten student-athletes, including three players with 4.0 GPAs, were selected to the Spring 2017 Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll after 11 were chosen to the Fall 2016 Honor Roll.

Weber, 60, has compiled a 413-223 (.649) record in his 19 seasons as a head coach, which includes stints at Southern Illinois (1998-2003) and Illinois (2003-11). His .649 winning percentage ranks 37th among active Division I head coaches, while he is the 41st coach (21st active coach) in NCAA history to take three different schools to the NCAA Tournament. Weber’s teams have participated in postseason play in 13 of his 19 seasons, including 11 NCAA Tournament appearances. He has averaged 21.7 victories a season in his head coaching career.